Back to the plan

To say it's been a busy summer doesn't quite cover it. Somehow a month has gone by and it's really been that long since I managed to sit down with a solid meal plan and get my act together.

That being said I have five words for you.

Chili Cheese Corn Dog Muffins.

Yes. Let's say that again.

Chili. Cheese. Corn. Dog. Muffins.

It is just that awesome.

I will admit I used canned Chili for simplicity's sake, but next time I'm going to plan this to go with a pot of fresh made chili. They were good, easy and a good one for Alice to help with. She mixed the batter, sliced the hotdogs and then proceeded to make such a huge mess attempting to put the batter into the muffin tin that I took over at that point. She did a great job though.

After going through everything, it's a pretty cheesy week, which was completely unintentional. I'm quite confident that cheese makes everything better though so it's ok.

Shopping List

Chili Cheese Corn Dog Muffins

Chicken broccoli rice casserole

Enchilada Pasta

Step by Step

Put 1 cup of brown rice in the rice maker.

Steam 12 oz broccoli (approx. 10 minutes) and set aside.

Chop 8 oz chicken thighs into bite size pieces.

Dice ½ an onion.

Chop 1 small onion.

Enchilada Pasta

Heat 2 tbs olive oil in a large pan and add:

2 cloves minced garlic

Onion

1.25 lbs ground turkey

Taco seasoning

(Little side note. I totally forgot the taco seasoning. Rather upset about it. Leaving that out made the whole thing a little bland and only ok; Pretty much just turned it into pasta with turkey meat sauce. It was good, but definitely not what it was supposed to be. I will attempt this again and hopefully get it right next time.)

Add:

2 cups chicken broth

19 oz can red enchilada sauce

8 oz uncooked rotini

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Uncover and simmer for 5 more minutes to let the sauce thicken. Stir in 1 cup of cheese.

I then refrigerated it for leftovers. When reheating I topped with additional cheese and then served with black olives and green onions.

Again, it was basically just pasta with a turkey meat sauce. So upset I forgot the seasoning! Let me know how yours goes!

Chili Cheese Corn Dog Muffins

Spray muffin tin.

In a large bowl mix:

2 packets sweet yellow corn muffin mix

1 cup milk

1 egg

2 tbs vegetable oil

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp onion powder

Add 1 package sliced hotdogs & 1 cup Colby jack cheese

Spoon into muffin tin & bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes (mine took 25 and probably could have come out a little earlier).

Heat Chili on stove while muffins bake.

Serve muffins topped with chili, sour cream, additional Colby jack cheese and sliced green onions.

I also served a salad and some frozen mixed veggies for the girls that I heated up while the muffins baked.

Chicken & Broccoli Rice Casserole

This one doesn’t have a lot of seasoning in the recipe and so I did add a few extras that I think helped quite a bit.

Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a large pan and add:

Chopped onion

½ tsp minced garlic

8 oz sliced mushrooms

Chopped chicken

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

1 tsp dried oregano

Dash of ground red pepper

In a medium bowl combine 1 ½ cups milk and 3 tbs flour. Whisk until smooth.

Once chicken is cooked through, stir milk mixture into pan with chicken and cook for a couple minutes until it starts to thicken.

Remove from heat and mix in:

½ tsp salt

Cooked Brown Rice

Steamed Broccoli

1 cup cheddar cheese

I don’t like to ‘top with cheese’ and prefer to have it mixed in. I did top with a little extra when serving thought and had served a with this dinner also.

Enjoy!

Week 7 - BH&G Spaghetti Pie, Prosciutto Spinach & Pasta, Spicy Chicken & Rice, Pork Chop & Broccoli Tots

Well, I'm going to have to admit a dinner fail. Sunday afternoon I got three out of the four dishes done while the girls were sleeping. I had planned on the pork chops, broccoli tots and sweet potatoes for dinner and so saved that for last and I guess it turned into a scramble to finish in time while working around the girls. The pork chops were overdone and the broccoli tots were a complete miss. *sigh* The sweet potatoes were good though; plain, boiled sweet potatoes, can't go wrong. I will keep this as part of the dinner plan and just cross my fingers that you have better luck.

This week I went a little old school. I used a cookbook. An actual physical cookbook, so I've copied out the recipes for you. Better Homes & Gardens is my go to for pretty much anything, when I'm not on a computer. These definitely qualify as basic meals. Nothing fancy. Nothing spicy. Basic meals that go together pretty quickly.

Shopping List

Spicy Chicken and Rice Bake

Prosciutto & Spinach Pasta

(with chicken)

 Spaghetti Pie

 

Pork chops with Broccoli Tots and Sweet Potato

Step by Step

Slice, oil, salt & pepper two chicken breasts, bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until done. Set aside.

Cook 8 oz (approx half a box) of ziti and set aside.

While the chicken and ziti are cooking.

Chop one large onion and one large green bell pepper.

Put half the onion and pepper into Large Bowl 1. Add one clove of garlic, half a pound of raw ground beef and 1/2 tsp fennel seeds crushed. (If you have fennel seeds on hand, I would recommend using them. If you don’t, don’t worry about it. To crush them use the flat side of a kitchen knife and push down with the palm of your hand. Doesn't take a lot of work, just until you can smell the seeds.)

Put the other half into Medium Bowl 2. Add two cloves of garlic.

Take second onion and slice into crescents.

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Spicy Chicken & Rice Bake

In a large sauce pan heat 1 tbs vegetable oil and cook Medium Bowl 2 onion mix.

When onion is tender, stir in:
1 can black beans (drained & rinsed)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup tomato juice
1 cup frozen corn
2/3 cup uncooked rice
1 tsp chili powder (I only used half)
1/8 - 1/4 tsp ground red pepper (I omitted)
1/2 tsp salt

Allow mixture to boil and then transfer to a 3 quart casserole dish.
Arrange 3 lbs of chicken pieces on top, sprinkle with paprika.
Bake, covered, for 45-50 minutes at 375 until chicken is done and rice is tender. Mine took the full 50 minutes.

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Spaghetti Pie

Cook 4 oz of spaghetti. If you have a kitchen scale I recommend using it to weigh the pasta. Using too much more than the 4 oz the recipe calls for results in more pasta than topping in your 'pie.'

While the pasta cooks, in a large sauce pan (freshly washed in my case) cook Large Bowl 1, beef and onion mixture until the meat is brown and the onions are tender. Drain if necessary.
Stir in:
8 oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp dried oregano

Heat through.

Once spaghetti is done, drain and return to warm pan.
Stir in:
1 tbs butter
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Spray a 9" pie plate with nonstick spray. (I actually forgot to do this and it's been fine)

Using a wooden spoon press the spaghetti into the pie plate and up the sides.
Spread 1 cup cottage cheese on top and over sides.
Spread meat mixture over cottage cheese.
Sprinkle with 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella.
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. Cut into wedges to serve.


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Prosciutto, Spinach & Pasta
(with chicken)

In a large saucepan (once again, freshly washed) heat 1 tbs butter and cook sliced onions with 2 gloves of minced garlic.

Stir in 1/4 cup flour and 1/2 tsp anise seeds, crushed. (I consider these optional. If you have anise seeds on hand, and want to use them, great. If you don’t, don’t worry about it. To crush them use the flat side of a kitchen knife and push down with the palm of your hand. Doesn't take a lot of work, just until you can smell the seeds.)

Immediately add
1 3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cup chicken broth

Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. (5 minutes or so)
Stir in:
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Precooked Ziti
10 oz chopped fresh spinach (the recipe called for frozen, which I used, and regretted, fresh is better)
2 oz prosciutto sliced into thin strips
2 precooked chicken breasts chopped into bite size pieces.

Transfer mixture to a 2.5-3 quart casserole dish.
Bake covered at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.
Top with chopped fresh tomatoes to serve (totally forgot that part, but Alice hates tomatoes, so, oh well.)

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Pork Chops, Broccoli Tots and Sweet Potato

I don't have an actual recipe for my pork chops. I use the 'pinch of this' method.

Peel and slice sweet potatoes. Boil for 10-15 minutes or until done. Mash and set aside.

Line a casserole dish with foil.
Spray chops with olive oil.
Sprinkle with: Salt, pepper, dried thyme and paprika...and whatever else you feel the need to try. I sometimes add some parmesan, or garlic powder, or red pepper if the girls aren't eating it.
Bake at 350 for about 18-20 minutes depending on the thickness.

Tots
Add 12 oz of broccoli to boiling water for one minute and then quickly run them under cold water.
Finely chop.
Mix together with:
1 beaten egg
1 cup shredded cheddar (Calls for 2/3, I thought it needed more)
1/4 cup sliced green onion
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
salt & pepper

Line a pan with parchment paper. Mush about 1.5 tbs of broccoli mix into a ball...sort of...
I had some trouble with the Broccoli tots. They wouldn't ball up well and this whole thing pretty much fits into the category of 'I don't have time for that'. I don't know if I didn't chop them finely enough or what, but I gave up and it turned into this:

Bake for 18-20 minutes at 400 degrees.

This one was kind of a miss for us. They were 'fine'. We all ate them, but it was not the crunchy, cheesy, broccoli experience I had hoped for.

I hope yours come out better!

Enjoy

Week Three(ish) - Creamy Chicken Casserole, Baked chicken nuggets, Meatballs and Lasagna cups

Too much to even get into. January was a complete bust. We're all just lucky to have survived. Flu, Sinus Infection, Bronchitis, it just didn't stop. My poor parents are still sick from having to come take care of all us invalids and getting infected in the process.

Back to it!

My new favorite addiction is iamafoodblog.com. A week or so ago I started looking around online to find some new sources of dinners and this one is so great. Some recipes are super easy, some are a little harder but everything I've tried so far has been worth the effort, and in less than two weeks I've made three of her recipes. If you like bacon (and who doesn't?) you have to try the jalapeno bacon twists. Even if you're hesitant on the jalapeno part, trust me, after cooking for 30 minutes and baking with cheesy goodness, it's not all that hot.

Granted she's living that kid free life that I both envy and don't envy all at the same time and has time for things like cooking Sunday Brunch (!??!) so you have to cut her some slack for those posts.

This week's dinner is all pretty basic stuff, but tasty and a little fun (mini lasagna from iamafoodblog). I'm on a big salad kick right now so two of the dinners have a super fast salad option included. Super fast = bag of greens, cherry tomatoes, green onion (the only thing requiring slicing) and feta cheese.

Here's to the hope of a healthy rest of the winter!!

Shopping List

Creamy Chicken Casserole

Baked Chicken Nuggets

(with Potato Wedges and Green beans)

Meatballs (with rolls or pasta) and Salad

Mini Lasagna Cups

Now, first off, I know you just clicked the link to the mini lasagna cup recipe and probably saw that it is made using wonton wrappers. DO NOT FEAR THE WONTON! I promise your store has them. And yes, you will have to ask where they are. I know my grocery store pretty well and couldn't for anything figure out where they were hidden. Find the store employee who really knows the store, not the teenager stocking shelves who works there part time after school for a couple hours. My grocery store guru knew right where they were, in the produce section with the fancy mushrooms. Figures, the one refrigerated section I did not check. Never thought that wontons would be in produce.

Here's the dinner breakdown. Mini lasagna's are crazy good and best that night, so plan on those (with super quick salad) for dinner on night one and then the rest either prepped or fully cooked for eating during the week. Another quick note on the mini lasagna's, my version includes beef. My husband does not consider a meal without meat acceptable. Also, apparently it's a Parmesan week. I didn't notice it until I was cooking on Sunday and saw that almost every recipe includes Parmesan. Whoops. Hope you like cheese!

Step by Step
Defrost your spinach.

Cook one cup of rice in your rice cooker (or on the stove) and set aside.

Cook green beans (I dumped two cans worth, with juice, into a Pyrex bowl and microwaved it for 2 1/2 minutes, done).

Cut up one and a half chicken breasts (approx 12 oz) into small chunks, spray with oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake at 350 for approx 18 min or until done.

Cut up the rest of the chicken breasts into nugget sized chunks and set aside.


Medium Bowl 1
2 cups sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup chopped red & yellow peppers
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic

Small Bowl 2
1/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp pepper

Medium Bowl 3
1 lb ground beef
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 small onion diced (recipe calls for the full onion, but I ended up with massive amounts of diced onion left in the bowl and didn't have enough beef to work in, so I suggest adjusting to half an onion)
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
3/4 tsp oregano
3/4 tsp crushed red pepper (if you have kids who are picky about spicy foods you may want to cut this back to 1/4 tsp, I used the full 3/4 and it's just a little spicy for my three year old. My husband and I think they're fantastic, but for a family friendly version, you might want to cut back).
1 dash hot sauce (see note above)
1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/3 cup skim milk
1/4 cup Parmesan
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Medium Bowl 4
3 eggs whisked with 2 tbs milk

Gallon Baggie 1
2 cups bread crumbs (I used panko)
1 cup Parmesan
1 tsp each of: Salt, Parsley, Pepper, Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp each of: Onion Powder, Oregano, Basil

Gallon Baggie 2
1/2 cup Parmesan
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper & pepper

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Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet.
Add contents of Medium Bowl 1 (veggies) and sautee until onions and peppers are soft.
Add contents of small bowl 2 (flour), mix and then immediately:
Add 2 cups of milk, defrosted spinach, 1/4 cup of Parmesan, cooked rice and cooked chicken.
Mix.
Spray 9x13 casserole pan and dump contents of skillet into pan.
Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Cover with foil.
Either bake now or bake the night you plan on eating it.
350 Covered for 20 min.
Uncover, and bake for 10 more.

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Take Medium Bowl 3 (beef) and mush it all up together.
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper (or spray with oil) and make meatballs.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Attempt to not eat them all immediately out of the oven (I came pretty close to failing on that one).
Serve later in the week, on rolls with pasta sauce and a super quick salad.

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Now for Gallon Baggie #1 (bread crumbs) and Medium Bowl 4 (eggs/milk)
The recipe on the blog I follow shows using wire cooling racks to cook the chicken. I do have one, and only one, but I'm fairly sure it's my sisters, and I'm not confident in it's ability to be cooked. So, I used baking sheets with aluminum foil and a little cooking spray for good measure. You may also notice that her recipe calls for 6 chicken breasts and at this point in the process you should have about 4.5 breasts to use. I did all 6, and then realized that she cooks for 6 kids plus two adults (ok the baby doesn't eat chicken yet) but proportionally she tends to make more. I currently have enough chicken nuggets to feed an army (of 6 children) instead of me, my husband and our 3 and 1 year old. Here I cut it down for you a bit for a family of 4 or 5.
Take the raw chicken that you previously chopped up and set aside. Using a slotted spoon, spoon about a quarter of the chicken into the eggs, and then using the same spoon, into the baggie.
Shake.
Spoon out and onto prepared baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes.
Again, attempt to not eat them all immediately out of the oven.
Store for dinner later in the week and serve with Green Beans and Potatoes (below).

Peel the two potatoes and cut into slices.
Place slices into Gallon Baggie #2 (Parmesan and spices).
Shake.
Place in a single layer on sheets lined with foil and/or sprayed with oil (I forgot to spray and had a terrible time getting them off the pan in one piece).
Bake at 425 for 25 minutes.

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And now, the mini lasagna's. These were so fun and so easy that my three year old put them together. Literally.

Spray muffin tin.
Layer wonton
approx 1 tsp of ricotta
approx 1 tbs beef
spoonful of sauce
sprinkle of mozzarella
basil leaf

And then repeat for a second layer, sprinkle a little more mozzarella on top (because there's always a reason for more cheese) and bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. Watch them if your oven runs hot because the wontons will get over crispy if unattended. Top with another basil leaf and serve with a super quick salad.

   

Enjoy!